Linga Purana

वर्षाणामष्टसाहस्रं ब्राह्मं वै ब्रह्मणो युगम् सवनं युगसाहस्रं सर्वदेवोद्भवस्य तु

Eight thousand years is the Brahma Yuga, the age of Brahmā; a thousand Yugas of the Savana are for the origin of all the gods.

सवनानां सहस्रं तु त्रिविधं त्रिगुणं तथा ब्रह्मणस्तु तथा प्रोक्तः कालः कालात्मनः प्रभो

Indeed, a thousand sacrifices are spoken of, of three kinds and three qualities; likewise, the time of Brahmā, who is the embodiment of time, O Lord, is thus declared.

भवोद्भवस्तपश्चैव भव्यो रम्भः क्रतुः पुनः ऋतुर्वह्निर्हव्यवाहः सावित्रः शुद्ध एव च

There is creation, emergence, and austerity; also, what is to be, the blossoming, the sacrifice again, the season, the fire, the carrier of offerings, the Sāvitra, and indeed, the pure one.

उशिकः कुशिकश्चैव गान्धारो मुनिसत्तमाः ऋषभश् च तथा षड्जो मज्जालीयश् च मध्यमः

Uśika, Kuśika, and also Gāndhāra, O best of sages, Ṛṣabha as well, then Ṣaḍja, Majjālīya, and Madhyama.

वैराजो वै निषादश् च मुख्यो वै मेघवाहनः पञ्चमश्चित्रकश्चैव आकूतिर् ज्ञान एव च

Vairāja, Niṣāda, the chief Meghavāhana, the fifth Citraka, and also Ākūti, and knowledge itself.

मनः सुदर्शो बृंहश् च तथा वै श्वेतलोहितः रक्तश् च पीतवासाश् च असितः सर्वरूपकः

Mind, Sudarśa, Bṛṃha, and likewise Śvetalohita, Rakta, those clad in yellow, Asita, and the one of all forms.

एवं कल्पास्तु संख्याता ब्रह्मणो ऽव्यक्तजन्मनः कोटिकोटिसहस्राणि कल्पानां मुनिसत्तमाः

Thus, the kalpas have been enumerated of Brahmā, whose birth is unmanifest; O best of sages, there are billions upon billions of kalpas.

गतानि तावच्छेषाणि अहर्निश्यानि वै पुनः परान्ते वै विकाराणि विकारं यान्ति विश्वतः

So many days and nights have passed; at the end of the supreme period, all modifications everywhere return to their source.

विकारस्य शिवस्याज्ञावशेनैव तु संहृतिः संहृते तु विकारे च प्रधाने चात्मनि स्थिते

The dissolution of transformation occurs only by the command of Śiva; when the transformation is dissolved, both the primordial matter and the self remain.

साधर्म्येणावतिष्ठेते प्रधानपुरुषावुभौ गुणानां चैव वैषम्ये विप्राः सृष्टिरिति स्मृता

By similarity, both the primordial matter and the person persist; but when the qualities become unequal, O sages, that is said to be creation.

साम्ये लयो गुणानां तु तयोर्हेतुर्महेश्वरः लीलया देवदेवेन सर्गास्त्वीदृग्विधाः कृताः

When the qualities are in equilibrium, there is dissolution; the cause of both is Maheśvara. By his play, the Lord of gods has made such kinds of creations.

असंख्याताश् च संक्षेपात् प्रधानाद् अन्वधिष्ठितात् असंख्याताश् च कल्पाख्या ह्य् असंख्याताः पितामहाः

In brief, innumerable beings arise from the primordial matter under its control; and innumerable kalpas, and innumerable Pitāmahas as well.

हरयश्चाप्यसंख्यातास् त्व् एक एव महेश्वरः प्रधानादिप्रवृत्तानि लीलया प्राकृतानि तु

And the Haris too are innumerable, but Maheśvara is only one; all the natural evolutions beginning from the primordial matter proceed by his play.

गुणात्मिका च तद्वृत्तिस् तस्य देवस्य वै त्रिधा अप्राकृतस्य तस्यादिर् मध्यान्तं नास्ति चात्मनः

The activity of that god is threefold and consists of qualities; for the transcendent one, there is no beginning, middle, or end to his self.

पितामहस्याथ परः परार्धद्वयसंमितः दिवा सृष्टं तु यत्सर्वं निशि नश्यति चास्य तत्

Beyond Pitāmaha, there is another, whose day equals two parārdhas; whatever is created during his day is destroyed at his night.

भूर्भुवःस्वर्महस्तत्र नश्यते चोर्ध्वतो न च रात्रौ चैकार्णवे ब्रह्मा नष्टे स्थावरजङ्गमे

There, the worlds Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, and Svar are destroyed, and those above as well; at night, when all that moves and is still is lost, Brahmā remains in the one ocean.

सुष्वापाम्भसि यस्तस्मान् नारायण इति स्मृतः शर्वर्यन्ते प्रबुद्धो वै दृष्ट्वा शून्यं चराचरम्

Immersed in the waters of deep sleep, he is therefore called Nārāyaṇa; at the end of the night, awakened, seeing all that moves and is still as void—

स्रष्टुं तदा मतिं चक्रे ब्रह्मा ब्रह्मविदां वरः उदकैराप्लुतां क्ष्मां तां समादाय सनातनः

Then Brahmā, best among knowers of Brahman, resolved to create; taking up the earth, which had been immersed in the waters, the eternal one—

पूर्ववत्स्थापयामास वाराहं रूपमास्थितः नदीनदसमुद्रांश् च पूर्ववच्चाकरोत्प्रभुः

Assuming the form of a boar, he established it as before; the Lord made the rivers, streams, and oceans as they were formerly.

कृत्वा धरां प्रयत्नेन निम्नोन्नतिविवर्जिताम् धरायां सो ऽचिनोत्सर्वान् गिरीन् दग्धान् पुराग्निना

Having carefully made the earth free from depressions and elevations, he placed upon it all the mountains that had been burned by the ancient fire.

भूराद्यांश् चतुरो लोकान् कल्पयामास पूर्ववत् स्रष्टुं च भगवांश्चक्रे तदा स्रष्टा पुनर्मतिम्

He established the four worlds, beginning with Bhū, as before; and at that time, the Blessed One again resolved to create.

यदा स्रष्टुं मतिं चक्रे मोहश्चासीन्महात्मनः द्विजाश् च बुद्धिपूर्वं तु ब्रह्मणो ऽव्यक्तजन्मनः

When he resolved to create, delusion arose in the great-souled one; and the twice-born, with prior intelligence, came from Brahma, whose birth is unmanifest.

तमो मोहो महामोहस् तामिस्रश्चान्धसंज्ञितः अविद्या पञ्चधा ह्येषा प्रादुर्भूता स्वयम्भुवः

Darkness, delusion, great delusion, Tāmisra, and Andha—these five forms of ignorance appeared from the self-born.

अविद्यया मुनेर्ग्रस्तः सर्गो मुख्य इति स्मृतः असाधक इति स्मृत्वा सर्गो मुख्यः प्रजापतिः

The creation seized by ignorance is called the primary creation; remembering it as ineffective, the primary creation is attributed to the Lord of creatures.

अभ्यमन्यत सो ऽन्यं वै नगा मुख्योद्भवाः स्मृताः त्रिधा कण्ठो मुनेस्तस्य ध्यायतो वै ह्यवर्तत

He considered another creation; the principal trees are remembered as having arisen; the throat of that sage, as he meditated, manifested in three ways.

प्रथमं तस्य वै जज्ञे तिर्यक्स्रोतो महात्मनः ऊर्ध्वस्रोतः परस्तस्य सात्त्विकः स इति स्मृतः

First, from him was born the crosswise-flowing creation; the upward-flowing creation was next, which is remembered as sattvic.

अर्वाक्स्रोतो ऽनुग्रहश् च तथा भूतादिकः पुनः ब्रह्मणो महतस्त्वाद्यो द्वितीयो भौतिकस् तथा

The downward-flowing creation and the gracious one, as well as the elemental creation, again; from the great Brahma, the first is called Mahat, the second is also elemental.

सर्गस्तृतीयश्चैन्द्रियस् तुरीयो मुख्य उच्यते तिर्यग्योन्यः पञ्चमस्तु षष्ठो दैविक उच्यते

The third creation is called the sensory, the fourth is called primary; the fifth is of animals, the sixth is called divine.

सप्तमो मानुषो विप्रा अष्टमो ऽनुग्रहः स्मृतः नवमश्चैव कौमारः प्राकृता वैकृतास्त्विमे

The seventh is human, O brahmins; the eighth is remembered as gracious; and the ninth is youthful; these are natural and modified creations.